Wawa Foundation Grants

The Wawa Foundation’s Financial Grants program supports nonprofit organizations working in communities served by Wawa. Rooted in a commitment to corporate social responsibility, The Wawa Foundation is a private philanthropic entity affiliated with the Wawa convenience store chain. It provides funding to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that align with the foundation’s mission to promote health, fight hunger, and support everyday heroes. The grantmaking process is designed to strengthen both local and national nonprofit efforts, ensuring a consistent and targeted impact within Wawa’s geographic footprint. Financial grants are awarded to organizations that operate on local, regional, and national levels, provided they serve communities where Wawa has a presence. To be eligible, applicants must be registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits and must address at least one of the foundation’s three focus areas: health, hunger, or everyday heroes. "Everyday heroes" is a broad category encompassing emergency responders, veterans, and others providing essential services in their communities. The grants may be used for general program support or to fund specific initiatives that clearly fall within these three priority areas. Importantly, applicants must demonstrate how their services directly benefit the local community and align with Wawa’s values and mission. The application process is structured around quarterly submission windows for financial grant requests exceeding $2,500. These windows occur in January, April, July, and October. During these periods, organizations can submit a grant request or Letter of Inquiry (LOI). If an LOI is approved, applicants may be asked to submit further documentation or a full proposal. All requests are reviewed during the submission window, and applicants will be notified of funding decisions before the start of the next cycle. Grants under $2,500, categorized as Local Connection Grants, can be requested on a rolling basis throughout the year, pending availability of funds. For smaller Local Connection Grants, a more simplified online inquiry process is available. These requests are reviewed on a continuous basis and typically receive a response within four weeks. However, once the annual budget for local grants is exhausted, no further awards are made until the next calendar year. This underscores the importance of early application for organizations seeking this tier of support. Notably, organizations are allowed only one in-kind donation request per calendar year, and in-kind donations (such as Wawa product donations) are handled separately under Wawa Community Care, not through The Wawa Foundation’s financial grant program. There is no matching requirement explicitly stated for either tier of grant, nor is a specific dollar amount or award ceiling noted for the larger financial grants. However, the distinction between over and under $2,500 grant amounts provides applicants with a general sense of scale. There are no details provided on reporting requirements or evaluation criteria, though The Wawa Foundation encourages applicants to thoroughly review their "Criteria for Success" to better understand alignment and expectations. Contact information is not explicitly listed, nor are any named individuals or downloadable application documents such as PDFs available through the source content. The program is recurring on a quarterly basis, with consistent application windows in January, April, July, and October for grants over $2,500. Organizations planning to apply in future rounds can reasonably anticipate the same schedule for the coming years. Since the February 2026 analysis date falls between quarterly windows, the next submission window is expected in April 2026. For recurring tracking purposes, the next cycle is designated as "April 2026," and internal monitoring should resume no later than the start of that month to prepare for potential application updates.